What is Reddit's opinion of The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Third Edition?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

This book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Third-ebook/dp/B07X59RN6N/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=art+of+game+design&qid=1612957496&sr=8-1 is basically the Bible of game design. It is very big, yet also dense with information.

There is also: https://www.amazon.com.au/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1449363210/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=theory+of+fun&qid=1612957550&sr=8-1 which is a shorter, lighter read, but a great place to start.

This next book is a great read, not as dense as the first, but more digestible and direct: https://www.amazon.com.au/Level-Guide-Great-Video-Design-ebook/dp/B00JRYDCEQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=level+up+game+design&qid=1612957607&sr=8-1

And of course play lots of games, particularly the kinds of games you want to play. Jonathan Blow's games (Braid and The Witness) are master classes in puzzle game design, and you can't help but learn how to train a player to think in the required way to solve the games. I try to look critically at games as I play them. I think about what annoys me and what delights me, and try to apply those things to my own games.

I also like watching Youtube devlogs about game design. There are some great ones that give you real insight into why certain decisions were made. Some channels I recommend:

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_p_9arduPuxM8DHTGIuSOg - Jonas Tyroller - great videos that are generally fun and informative
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-RkUY5LWy9qL1RBt2y0oA -Lost Relic Games - full of practical advice and tips and quite funny, probably leans more towards development than design, but talks a lot about his upcoming game
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeuN4fXXkaERYkxrvixRSJA - Matthew VanDevander - lots of stuff about puzzles and the design of his upcoming puzzle game. Also talks about the design of other games.
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVa9noLKgAfw7cWzxr3yrmQ - neenaw - not the most prolific Youtuber, but his devlogs about his game are really interesting, and he explains things in a friendly way
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrlzUETN-uCgV1LKQ-v2rQ - Simone - more focused on art and other aspects of game dev, but she has some great videos about some of her projects if you scroll down through her videos
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPJKhlQsQGtzJyGTY80OIg - TheSuperCoolDuck - some great videos about the design and development of a puzzle platformer game. Another one who isn't very prolific, but the videos he posts are always worth watching